Democratic Senators Seek to Investigate Musk's Alleged Call With Putin

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Facts

  • US Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) wrote a letter to the Justice Department and military on Friday calling for a federal investigation into reports that Elon Musk has been in contact with Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin.[1][2]
  • The letter argues that due Musk's SpaceX receiving "billions of dollars in US government funding," as well the billionaire's security clearance as a government contract, reports that he's been in contact with a "US adversary" have "the potential to put our security at risk."[2][3]
  • Citing "section 4654 of title 10 United States Code," they want the government, "up to and including a determination by the senior debarment official of the Department of Defense," to see whether Musk's contracts with intelligence agencies and the military should be reviewed.[2][4]
  • The allegations came from a Wall Street Journal report last month which claimed that Musk held multiple calls with Putin, including one in which the Russian president asked Musk not to deploy his Starlink satellites over Taiwan to help Chinese Pres. Xi Jinping.[5][6]
  • Musk has denied the allegations and previously responded on X, formerly Twitter, by saying: "Welp, the Swamp's 'Trump is Hitler' didn't work. Might as well give 'Elon is a Russian agent' a whirl."[1][4]
  • This comes as Musk has played a role in Pres.-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration, including joining Trump's recent call with Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[7]

Sources: [1]WSJ (a), [2]Shaheen, [3]Senate, [4]Daily Caller, [5]The Hill, [6]WSJ (b) and [7]BNN Bloomberg.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by The New York Times and The New Republic. Musk is flouting the American people's intelligence — and possibly the country's national security, too — as he grows more and more influential in the Trump transition team. As several reports have emerged surrounding his close ties with Vladimir Putin, Trump has chosen not to distance himself from this liability but rather give him access to Ukrainian and Iranian foreign policy negotiations. This is not how the government should act, and it deserves intense scrutiny.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall and PJ Media. The Democratic Party and the mainstream media are propaganda tools for the corrupt US intelligence agencies and military. The same politicians who forced America into countless unnecessary wars in the Middle East and now Ukraine are the same ones pretending to care about Americans' safety with respect to Russia. Democrats don't care if Musk actually spoke to Putin, which he likely didn't, but they do care about censoring him and his popular anti-war views.